Pub Theology: Faith and Spirituality in a new environment

If the South is the Bible belt, the Twin Lakes Area rests at the top of its glittery belt buckle. The left part of the belt itself consists of Baptists and the other side is made up of Evangelicals.

It can be a tough for Protestant Churches to eke out their own comfort zones, but the clergy of Redeemer Lutheran Church and St. Andrew’s Episcopalian Church, both new to their congregations and the Mountain Home area, are doing just that.

“Pub Theology” groups are springing up around the country for the last several years now, taking an old idea and making it new again.

Since the founding of our nation, the local pub has served as a location for people to discuss politics, as well as religion.

The pub theology template is a simple one: beer, conversation and God. Attendees are encouraged to pull up a chair, bring questions and an open mind.

Redeemer Lutheran Church

Associate Pastor Tommy Presley, 27, of Redeemer Lutheran Church, arrived a year ago this month. Born in Huntsville, Ala., he recently graduated from seminary school.

Pub theology wasn’t something that had done before at Redeemer, but Pastor Tommy said it was something that he and Senior Pastor John Easterling talked about and wanted to try.

He had been told prior to his posting that Mountain Home is a retirement community and that his congregation would match that; he wasn’t sure how pub theology would be received by his senior membership.

The group held their second event Rapp’s Barren Brewing Company on July 31, which consisted of approximately 50 cheerfully, rowdy seniors.

Tables were set up in a room attached to the tap room, which almost felt a church community room in a church hall, aside from the large, walk-in refrigerator housed in the back.

He has been thrilled with the number of congregants that have shown up, joking that he thought maybe 10 people would show up initially.

“I’ve been overwhelmed by the turnout,” said Pastor Tommy.

July’s topic was “Relationships and Why They Matter,” as related to the Book of Genesis. Relationships between friends, parents and children, spouses and the individuals and God.

The topic felt appropriate for the group itself, as a new event trying to gain a crowd, showing church goers a new way to experience the word of God.

It must have appeared odd to outsiders to see people sitting around tables, with men drinking beer, some women drinking white wine, led by a young man wearing a clergy collar. Many attendees enjoyed barbeque dishes from White River Smoke’s food truck parked in Rapp Barren’s lot.

Pastor Tommy himself was armed with his Bible, a dark stout and a back-up sports drink and encouraged his “theologians,” to get a drink before the discussion kicked off.

He told the group to turn to Genesis, and giggles started to emanate from those who did not bring their Bibles to study. Pastor Tommy lightly scolded those who forgot them, while the crowd pulled out their smart phones and tablets to pull up the appropriate passages.

The young pastor asked for volunteers to read the passages aloud because “faith comes from hear the word,” and often time he would get loud and animated, from the spirited discussion.

Genesis is the story of The Creation. How God formed the Earth, creating animals and then Adam, tasking him to name the animals. And, to paraphrase, Pastor Tommy said “it was all good.”

“There’s a longing in man to have a relationship with others and God.”

Associate Pastor Tommy Presley

That is, he said, until God realized that Adam was alone and that was not good, so he created Eve from one of Adam’s ribs.

Pastor Tommy said people will often chose to self-isolate, thinking “I have God, I don’t need anyone else.” He said we were created to need other people.

“There’s a longing in man to have a relationship with others and God,” he said.

Pastor Tommy asks some tough questions, things that can’t be answered by frantically flipping pages in the Bible as many of his congregants discovered; they require contemplation.

When some give him a partial answer to a question, he presses them telling the group to “say more about that.” When a student is stuck, he opens the discussion up to the class, “what do you think theologians”?

The relationships in Genesis will be tested after Adam and Eve make their way through the Garden of Eden and eat of The Forbidden Fruit. Those relationships will deal with who has authority.

One man in the group said since woman came from man, Eve should have submitted to Adam’s authority.

Some of the empowered women of the Baby Boomer generation shifted uncomfortably in their seats, pinching back tight smiles across their faces.

Pastor Tommy said it is natural that women bristle at the idea of male authority within a marriage — it was their curse to bear following The Fall. Women will want to rule over men, but man is not to be a tyrant. Women are supposed to be the helpers in the relationship.

“Now let’s turn to Genesis 3 and watch it all fall apart,” Pastor Tommy said with a laugh.

One woman asked if it’s possible for a woman to remain Christian woman if she does not completely submit to her husband.

“Must I submit even if it leads to our financial ruin?” she asked.

Pastor Tommy said yes. “Don’t take away the office because someone is bad at it,” paraphrasing the political adage “respect the office, if not the man.”

Couples can fight and compromise, but the head of the household still gets the final say, he added.

“It’s a good time to open your
mind and heart to hear what
other people believe.”

Sue Polonus

The man who brought up the topic of authority said that everyone has submit their authority to someone higher, such as wife to her husband, and man to God.

Now if a man is leading his family into sin, only then Pastor Tommy says can they “follow God and not man.”

Redeemer Lutheran Church congregants Stan and Joanne Helms of Mountain Home attended both pub theology events and were having a good time.

“I love a good theology question,” joked Joanne.

She said her husband Stan recently retired, so now he spend his evenings coming to such events.

“It’s nice to come and support the brewery and get them on their feet,” Stan added.

Louann Kathol of Flippin and Sue Polonus of Mountain Home visited outside when Pastor Tommy called a beverage break at the one-hour mark.

Both attend Redeemer Lutheran Church and remarked that since there are different services at the church, they don’t get a chance to meet everyone.

“I think I came for the fellowship,” Polonus said. “And I’m learning about my relationship with my Savior. It’s a good time to open your mind and heart to hear what other people believe.”

Kathol agrees.

“I’m here for the fellowship, and with Pastor Tommy being fairly new, I’ve been impressed with his sermons,” she said. “I can learn a lot from him.”

A year in, Pastor Tommy is happy with Mountain Home, its people, his congregation and pub theology.

“I love it; it’s a beautiful place with beautiful people; we would like anyone who wants to show up to come,” he said of pub theology.

The Redeemer Lutheran group meets the last Friday of the month from 6-8 p.m. Rapp’s Barren Brewing

St. Andrew's Episcopal Church

Father Kevin Gore of St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church just started at his new congregation on July 1, but he already seems very comfortable chatting away with members of his congregation.

Born and raised in the Pacific Northwest, Father Kevin was just ordained in June after studying seminary in Berkeley, Calif.

About 25 people attended his first Pub Theology event on Aug. 1, at El Chico’s, which is not a pub per se. The group also consisted mostly seniors, a few middle-aged folks and one young girl.

They trickled into the restaurant’s conference room, taking seats at a long-table set up, chatting happily while eating chips and salsa. Beverages varied from beer, wine, margaritas, soft drinks and even coffee.

St. Andrew’s group had a completely different vibe from the Redeemer Lutheran crowd.

Father Kevin said he had anticipated that maybe 10-15 people would come for his first outing with pub theology, but was very happy with the crowd that came.

He greeted his congregants with the traditional welcome of “The Lord be with you,” to which they responded “And also with you.”

He announced that his topic for the evening would be reconciliation — the idea of confession one’s sins — the theology surrounding it and where the Episcopal Church lands on the idea of Salvation.

He encouraged the group to think about their own confessional experiences, or recall what they’ve seen on television of the Roman Catholic’s confessional booth. He quoted Queen Elizabeth the First by saying confession is something that “some should, all can, none must.”

The attendees didn’t bring Bibles or the Book of Common Prayer, a book that serves as a devotional and teaching resource for those of the Anglican faith.

Father Kevin said grace as the food orders began to trickle out, plates came in and attendees could eat and discuss at will.

Asked if confession had ever been a part of St. Andrew’s culture in the past, he was told by some that it had been part of Lent. He asked the group, why confession should be part of the celebration of Lent.

Reconciliation is the term that Father Kevin prefers to use, aside from confession, though they are both an opportunity for congregants to meet with a clergy person privately to confess their sins. While Episcopalians believe they all were forgiven of sin following the death of Jesus, and that they are also forgiven each week during worship as part of “corporate confession,” the act confession offers a unique opportunity.

“The liturgy is there to hold you up. If you come to service on a Sunday and you’re not feeling it, they are there to support you.”

Father Kevin Gore

Father Kevin says meeting with clergy provides an opportunity to take stock of one’s life. He says it’s something that should happen at least twice a year. In the first confession, the congregant can list specific things or general things about themselves they’d like to address, which can lead to a personal catharsis.

“Some of you are pulling faces at the idea of it, but you’re not confessing anything that God doesn’t already know,” he said. “And the clergy is not God.”

Confession allows for an informal conversation, like counseling, where the member of clergy can look at behavior for re-occurring patterns.

One parishioner admitted that she doesn’t like the formality of talking to clergy.

Father Kevin reminded the group that reconciliation is addressed in the Book of Common Prayer when ministering to the sick.

Another parishioner added that there is something to the adage that “confession is good for the soul,” because lots of people pay good money to counselors and psychiatrists in order to speak out loud.

“So, don’t forget we have a collection box,” Father Kevin joked.

In reconciliation, the clergy represents the community of the church which allows the confessor to ask for forgiveness from many.

“The liturgy is there to hold you up. If you come to service on a Sunday and you’re not feeling it, they are there to support you,” he said.

When the clergy finishes the rite of reconciliation, he will often say, “Go in peace and pray for me, a sinner,” to remind you that you are talking to a person.

After the main discussion was over, the attendees chatted among themselves and finished eating. Father Kevin spent two to three minutes speaking to one of the waiters at El Chico’s discussing the history and beliefs of the Anglican Church.

“I love doing that,” Father Kevin said later of their talk. “I enjoy answering questions that others have with the theology.”

St. Andrew’s parishioners James Loveless and his spouse, Jeffree, of Mountain Home, have been members of the church for three years. They both have nothing but praise for Father Kevin.

“I think he’ll be good for the parish,” James said. “We will keep participating and hope that he is here for a while.”

“We haven’t seen a group like this in a long time,” Jeffree said of the turnout at El Chico’s. “Our previous Father has been gone for more than a year and he started the event.”

James said he likes the idea of congregants coming together and breaking bread over discussion, adding that “Episcopalians don’t really need a reason to get together and eat.”

“Episcopalians don’t really need a reason to get together and eat.”

James Loveless

Margaret Weeks of Mountain Home has been a St. Andrew’s churchgoer for 18 years and, while she’s previously come to Pub Theology, she said she likes the new, slightly different format.

“Before it was mostly social,” she said. “I prefer having topics; it is a church function after all.”

Fellow congregant Margot Serdhal agrees. A resident of Mountain Home, Serdahl has been going to St. Andrews for 26 years and likes the discussion, saying it gives the event more meaning.

“And it’s nice meeting people in a different venue,” she said. “I will be back; I like this.”

Father Kevin said he has been in discussion with the clergy over at Holy Cross Lutheran Church, who said they might like to attend pub theology on a quarterly basis. Going forward he asked attendees to contact him to let him know if they there are other locations they’d like to try out for the event and to share topics for the monthly event.

“This has been really great,” Father Kevin said of the Mountain Home area and his congregants.

He hadn’t participated in a pub theology group before, but he says there are popular events within the Episcopal Church.

“And being from the Pacific Northwest, we like our breweries,” he joked.

He acknowledges the old stereotype that Episcopalians enjoy alcohol beverages sometimes to excess, but thinks his group is off to a good start.

Father Kevin reiterated that pub theology and all of St. Andrew’s services are open to the public, especially to those members of the LGBTQ community.

Going forward, he said Bibles and copies of the Book of Common Prayer won’t be necessary, that if he has a specific topic he wants to talk about, he will bring his own handouts.

St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church in Mountain Home

Website: http://standrewsmountainhome.org/

Phone: 870-425-3560

St. Andrew’s Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/St.AndrewsMH/

Pub theology will be the first Wednesday of the month, from 5:30 to 8 p.m.,at El Chico's.